Technion Arm Takes $72 Million Hit in Madoff Scheme

December 22, 2008

The American fund-raising arm of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology lost its $29 million investment and tens of millions more in supposed profits through investing with Bernard Madoff, an organization spokesman told JTA.

The American Technion Society lost its original investment with the fraudulent fund — plus $43 million in gains it reinvested — for a net loss of $72 million.

The stock market’s downfall had significantly affected the society’s endowment, which on Sept. 30 was at $305 million but by the end of October had fallen to $274 million. With the Madoff loss, the endowment is down to approximately $200 million.

The university itself lost 25 million shekels, about $6.7 million, that it had invested with Madoff.

To help make up for the losses, the society in recent days has received $2.8 million in unrestricted gifts.